San Francisco Pride abandons Bradley Manning

SF Pride uninvited Bradley Manning as Grand Marshall (Daniel Ellsberg was supposed to stand in) because of protests (from -no surprise- a military LGBT group). And the decision has been made ex cathedra by the board of the parade, they claim it was an error, a single person’s decision, that person had been disciplined and does not speak for the Pride. Because sure, everybody can believe that, a single person decides who is Grand Marshall and invites Daniel Ellsberg. They are even too cowardly to admit the truth.

The last two years (the parades I saw), there have always been multiple groups in the parade speaking up for Manning. Manning is a hero, and should be paraded around the world every day. Instead the parade bows to the lazy old sentiments about “The safety of our service people”, which not only disregards the safety of Manning as a LGBT service person (which is the very thing they should defend), but it also blatantly disregards the safety of all people on this planet, which the horrible actions Manning’s leaks have revealed (yet again) endanger. Oh, and it is wrong too, as Glenn Greenwald explains. This is despicable. We will not go to Pride this year, needless to say.